Troutbitten

What’s the nymph really doing under there? How is it affected by the currents? And is the attached tippet dragging the fly unnaturally across, over, up or out of the natural, one-seam drift that our picky trout are waiting for?
The challenge of nymphing is mercifully balanced by the frequency at which trout feed on these bottom dwelling food forms. So even if we get one in ten drifts just right, the rate at which we might fool fish makes this maddening quest for perfection more than worth it. Simply put, nymphing is fun because it works — and because there’s always a way to make it work even better.
Our nymphs require weight to get under the surface and down to the trout. And “how much weight” is a fundamental consideration — perhaps the primary factor — toward the goal of drifting nymphs naturally.
If you’re into anything long enough, you’ll notice the trends. And you can watch dogged convictions shift, en masse. In an industry as niche as fly fishing for trout, the opinions of just a few influential anglers often shape the next metamorphosis. So it is with the nymphing game, as the current trend for lighter flies and lighter tackle has taken a strong foothold. But just a few years ago, the concept of anchor flies was driving weighty considerations in the opposite direction. (Just as many trout found the net, by the way.)
As with most things, real success with nymphs lies somewhere toward the middle of these extremes, and persistent success comes from a combination of both.

Resources
Here's the full article:
READ: Troutbitten | Are Light Nymphs More Effective? Is Less Weight More Natural?
Here are supporting articles:
READ: Troutbitten Drifting Light Nymphs
READ: Troutbitten | Over or Under -- Your Best Bet On Weight
READ: Troutbitten | Leading vs Tracking vs Guiding the Flies
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For our Season 19 Intermission, my wife, Becky, joins me to check in on what's going on in the Troutbitten world. We talk about the upcoming leader sale in the Troutbitten Shop (May 24th), the Troutbitten Film Festival, guide season, changes to the Troutbitten Beer with New Trail Brewing Company and the Mono Rig book status. Then my son, Aiden, joins me for a short conversation about spring fishing.
Resources
VIDEOS: Troutbitten | Fish and Film | Category
SHOP: Troutbitten | Category | Leaders
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There’s something about fishing that leads us to believe that we can figure out what the fish want to eat that day — at that moment. Really, we want to believe that. And maybe it’s true often enough that trying to figure ‘em out . . . is a smart strategy.

But I’m sure you’ve also had the experience of getting back to camp and every one of your friends all caught fish — but they all caught them on different flies and different water types. And you’ve definitely met the guy in the parking lot who’s positive that he has the answer for catching fish that evening. And maybe he’s so sure of it that he’ll make it work, just because he’ll fish it so hard.
Is there really anything to figure out?

That’s our topic for this episode. We work around the ins and outs of when, why, where and how chasing that goal of figuring things out makes any sense.

My good friends Matt Grobe, Josh Darling and Bill Dell join me for this one.

Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs Presentation - Trout Eat Anything, But Sometimes They Eat Another Thing Better
READ: Troutbitten | It's Not Luck
READ: Troutbitten | Asking the Best Questions to Catch More Trout
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How do you get deeper into the game? Is it a choice or just good fortune? We live a life on the water, and a couple of episodes ago we talked about burnout — how a lot of anglers dig in, fish hard, go all out for a few years, and then just fade away. That’s the end point for some people, but tonight we’re here to talk about the beginning. We want to consider the start of a fishing life, or more accurately, the start of a dedicated fishing life. Most people who become serious anglers have some fishing experiences for a while, and then for whatever reason, the whole thing just becomes . . . more.
All of the Troutbitten crew that you already has made fishing our lives for a very long time. And we can give you our opinions and experiences on this whole thing. But for a newer, fresher perspective, we invited some friends who are a little younger in the game. Both of these guys fished off and on since they were kids, but something triggered them to go deeper. That’s process is more recent for them than it is for us, so we wanted to hear from them.
Meet our good friends Anthony Marrazo and Andy McDonald, who join me with Austin Dando and Bill Dell.
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Rivers and Friends
READ: Troutbitten | How to Stay in the Game for a Lifetime
PODCAST: Troutbitten | The Stages of an Angler - S11, Ep1

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Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at
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Dry dropper is great. Just put a nymph under that dry fly and get the best of both worlds. Right? Not so fast . . .

The idea that you can have your cake and eat it too — that you'll get perfect drifts on the dry fly and the nymph — and that you somehow double your chances by dropping a nymph under the dry is not true. This is the big lie of dry dropper fishing.

Here's the problem: In most cases, neither fly ends up with a great drift. Instead, both flies are compromised and their natural drift is altered. Picky trout don't buy sub-par drifts, so you'll only pick up the occasional lucky trout.

But we can have good fishing with a dry dropper rig. It's a go to choice for a many anglers, and it’s one of our favorite ways to fish a river.

The point here is to acknowledge the problems with a dry dropper system — the inherent drawback — so we can then specifically deal with them or even get rid of them altogether. Know the problem and try to solve it.

My good friends Bill Dell, Trevor Smith, Josh Darling, Austin Dando and Matt Grobe are here with me to talk about . . . the big lie of dry dropper.

Resources
READ: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Three Styles of Dry Dropper - Dry Dropper Skills Series

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Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership at
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Use the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order at
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